DEC: avoid muddy trails

May 10, 2014

RAY BROOK - The state Department of Environmental Conservation is urging people not to hike on trails above 3,000 feet in the Dix Mountain, Giant Mountain and High Peaks wilderness areas until early June.

On other trails, the DEC asks people to wear waterproof footwear and gaiters and hike through, not around, wet and muddy portions of trail to avoid widening the trails or creating "herd paths" around those areas.

Trails and vegetation in the higher elevations are most vulnerable at this time of year, when melting snow saturates thin soils found on the steep slopes of the mountains. Hikers can cause severe erosion of trails and damage vegetation.